In the framework of the EUI Finance, Innovation and Business Regulation Working Group, this session features a presentation by EUI Law Researchers, Guillem Gabriel-Pizarro and Dorota Nowacka.
Abstracts:
Mirroring the American Bankruptcy code? The European insolvency harmonisation project and the treatment of IP licenses in restructuring procedures by Guillem Gabriel-Pizarro
As the licensing of Intellectual Property ('IP') rights has been growing in the global economy, the insolvency treatment of those agreements has also taken on greater importance. Against this background, my PhD project explores the treatment of IP licenses in cross-border restructuring procedures in a context where countries adopt different approaches and EU steps have been limited.
Using the new Directive Proposal 2022/0408/COD as the central element of the study, this presentation aims to provide a deeper understanding of the European insolvency harmonisation project through the treatment of IP licenses within the European Union. By analysing the specific regulation of executory contracts when the debtor’s business or part of it is sold as a going concern, it contrasts the Proposal with the heterogeneous background in some EU Member States (Germany and Spain) and the US Bankruptcy Code as the major source of inspiration.
Secured and preferential creditors in insolvency. Lessons from a comparative perspective by Dorota Nowacka
Secured creditors, which frequently includes the financial institutions, are one of the most prominent and practically influential groups of creditors. Although the impact assessment mentioned this issue, the area was largely left out from the Directive Proposal 2022/0408/COD.
The objective of this presentation is to provide a comparative analysis of rights in rem and the rights of secured and preferential creditors in insolvency. The project concentrates on the legal institutions which can be employed by the creditors to protect their claims.
It uses the functional method of comparative law to assess the position of the categories of creditors who are protected during insolvency proceedings, with particular emphasis being put on the privileges of secure creditors.
The analysis focuses on the finding the common ground in four jurisdictions: Ireland, Spain, Italy and Poland, while at the same time identifying the most significant differences. This work-in-progress will later help to assess the possibility of further harmonisation in the field.